State Police sergeant convicted of drug thefts

A Norfolk jury yesterday convicted a 16-year veteran of the State Police of stealing stashes of cocaine the unit had seized , prosecutors said.

After deliberating for a day and a half, the jury found Sergeant Timothy White guilty of one count of trafficking in more than 200 grams of cocaine and larceny by scheme of more than $250, prosecutors said.

Norfolk Superior Court Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara sentenced White, who had been suspended from his post at the Narcotics Inspection Unit in the Framingham State Police barracks, to 15 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of probation, prosecutors said. The jury acquitted White after a 12-day trial, of distribution of marijuana and conspiracy, they said.

In May 2005 , a jury convicted White on two counts of domestic assault and battery against his wife, prosecutors said. The jury had been hung on the cocaine charges.

At that time, the sergeant from Stoughton was sentenced to serve 2 1/2 years in the House of Correction, prosecutors said.

A Boston lawyer representing White could not be reached for comment last night.

White was accused of assaulting his wife in 2002, and the drug investigation began in February 2003, shortly after authorities found that White had stolen about 13 kilograms of cocaine from State Police seizures in eight cases, prosecutors said.

They said investigators recovered nearly 1 kilogram during a search of White's home and a storage unit.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.